>>> Items of interest to British media fans and
Seattle-area residents, <<<
>>> and whatever else I feel like spewing about. You
have been warned. <<<

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Thanks (persumably) to Saturday's marathon on KBTC, there are
several new
subscribers. Consider this an unfortunately impersonal
"welcome".

The John Woo produced "The Replacement Killers" is due
out next month
(featuring the Hollywood debut of Chow Yun-Fat!). Woo's next
project
is a pilot for the USA Network titled "Blackjack",
starring Dolph
"He-Man" Lundgren.

Robert Lindsey's stint as Fagin (in "Oliver!" at the
London
Palladium) has come to an end. (Did I mention I had front row
seats
on his opening night, and met him backstage afterward? I did? Oh,
nevermind.) Taking over the role is Barry Humphries (better known
as
Dame Edna Everage).

Rugrats (which seems to be bigger in the UK than here, actually)
will
star in their own film (due out at Christmas). Rumour has it
several
musicians contributing to the soundtrack, including Mark
Mothersbaugh, Beck, Jakob Dylan, Lenny Kravitz, Patti Smith, Iggy
Pop, and Lisa Loeb, will appear in a Mothersbaugh-penned
production
number called "This World Is Something Strange To Me",
as newborn
babies. (Darn - no sign of Lou Reed.)

"The Full Monty" is now the highest grossing film of
1997 in Britain,
with a total UK take of $66.3 million. In October, the film
overtook
Four Weddings and a Funeral to become the highest-grossing
British-made film ever in the UK. "The Full Monty"
stars Robert
Carlyle ("Trainspotting") who starred in the BBC drama
"Hamish
Macbeth" (which will appear at future Rusting TARDIS video
meeting).

Channel 4 currently is celebrating its 15th anniversary with a
bunch
of specials and retrospectives.

David Jason ("Only Fools and Horses") will play an evil
Mafia boss in
a film shot in Chicago titled "Windy City".

Local news:

The semi-annual KBTC "Doctor
Who"/"EastEnders" marathon was quite a
success. "EastEnders" met its $9000 goal with a whole
three minutes
to spare. "Doctor Who"/"Star
Cops"/"Neverwhere" raised its $15,000
with one break to spare (so there were no pre-recorded spots
aired on
Monday).

KBTC has already started airing "Star Cops", and when
it ends in
March, current plans call for it to be replaced by
"Neverwhere".
These two series will alternate for the forseeable future.

It was previously announced that KBTC would be airing "Monty
Python's
Flying Circus". Unfortunately, when Channel 9 learned of
this, they
suddenly decided they not only wanted to air it too, they wanted
exclusive rights to PREVENT KBTC FROM AIRING IT. Yes, that's your
Channel 9 pledge dollars at work. If you don't like it, give them
a call. (And while you're at it, ask if they'll ever allow KBTC
to
air "Red Dwarf".)

Miscellany:

Well, "Spiceworld" is out. And based on what I've
heard, I will be
seeing it. At last, something so shameful I'll be able to forget
about seeing A Flock of Seagulls at the Ballard Firehouse a few
years
back.

And last time I mentioned that "Spiceworld" was written
by Jennifer
Saunders. Apparently this was due to a brain spasm on my part,
but I
swear I read something somewhere about her working on the script.
Well, even without her there's plenty of Brit cameos to
entertain.

Tired of "reality-based television? From December 21st:
"10:15 The
Lily Savage Show, gs: Gayle Tuesday". Yes, a man pretending
to be a
woman, and a talented woman pretending to be a page-three girl.